High health care costs can be particularly burdensome for low-income families. The BadgerCare program provides health care coverage for families with dependent children with incomes up to 185% of the federal poverty level if they don't qualify for the Medicaid program. In the 2005-07 budget, the Legislature and Governor provided a total of $140 million from the state's general fund to maintain the BadgerCare program.

The link to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau Informational Paper containing a description of the BadgerCare program is below. See the BadgerCare section on pages 81-84 of the paper.